Strawberry Jam Swirl Muffins

Refined sugar and oil free, these muffins are incredibly fluffy and sweetened to perfection. Enjoy them as is or with a generous tablespoon of peanut butter.

Time for an honest confession: I have actually never gone berry picking. Although there are dozens of berry farms around Montreal, it was never on my list of to do things in the early summer.

However, after my mom went with one of her friends last year and brought back the most beautiful berries, I was totally envious. I mean, she had picked the juiciest, sweetest strawberries, ruby red raspberries and gorgeous gooseberries, elderberries and white currants.

She was kind enough to share a bit of her harvest with me and I must say I had so much fun shooting with them. There is something about the delicate, fragile nature of berries that makes them stunning garnishes on smoothie bowls, oatmeal, pancakes and toasts.

After seeing all the berries my mom had picked, I promised myself to go berry picking in 2019. Now I am pretty much counting the days before I can drive a few hours and get my hands on some of nature’s precious antioxidant packed gems.

In the meantime, I still have access to delicious frozen organic strawberries. They are just as delicious as the fresh Quebec ones that will be harvested by local farmers in a few weeks and work beautifully in recipes.

Those are the berries I used to make the jam in these muffins. You can totally use a jam you have on hand, but I wanted these muffins to be 100% refined sugar free, so I opted to make my own date sweetened jam. If you want to know how to make your own, the recipe is available here.

These muffins are honestly incredibly easy to make, especially if you already have a batch of jam on hand. You literally have to add all the wet ingredients into a blender, blend until smooth and pour them onto the premixed dry ingredients. You then line a muffin pan with cupcake liners, add two tablespoons of batter, top with one tablespoon of jam and finish it off with an extra tablespoon of batter. Swirl both mixes together, pop the muffins in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. TADA!

Moist, fluffy, refined sugar and oil free muffins to enjoy for breakfast or as a snack!

A FEW NOTES ON THIS RECIPE

If you do not have frozen strawberries on hand, swap them out with any other frozen berries you have. These muffins would be delicious with a blueberry and raspberry jam as well!

Feel free to use any dates you have on hand. If they are the hard ones, measure them, place them in a bowl, boil some water and cover the dates with 3/4 cup of boiling water. Let sit for 10 minutes before continuing to step 2.

I have not tried this recipe with other flours, so I cannot guarantee the result if you play with the spelt and oat flour. Just know that the consistency might not be the same.

I hope you guys give this muffin recipe a try and if you do, make sure to leave a comment below and let me know how you find it! Also, feel free to share this recipe or your creations on Instagram by tagging me (@muriellebanackissa).